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more momentum on the gainers than losers...

Biggest % gainers: NZD/USD up 0.80%, AUD/USD, AUD/CHF...on mild commodity dollar strength

Biggest % losers: USD/JPY down 0.45%, GBP/JPY, CHF/JPY, EUR/JPY on mild JPY strength

Gold $ 1,137
Oil: $ 73.19

Remember, this afternoon we get New Zealand's interest rate decision at 3pm EST today. They are expected to hold at 2.50%. With the fallout that their Labour Party had with the central bank lately...I'd be shocked if the hiked rates today.

Tonight at 7:30pm EST we get Australia's employment numbers. I'd expect them to come out fairly favorable in light of RBA Steven's speech the other day. There have been more job advertisement signs going up all over Australia lately...so there should be some decent job creation going on overall...question is, will there be jobs added for this particular month that's being reported tonight.

European stocks and the pound just took a hit when Darling announced that he was going to place a one time tax of 50% on bank bonuses for bonuses over 25,000 pounds (about 40,000 dollars). It's simply an immoral move to take away wages that were agreed upon by their employers...nonetheless, he can do it anyway. It's really hurting the sentiment in the market right now. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aGi.oakHDdx0

This is one of those (many) cases where politicians simply don't know what they are doing. The more money you take out of their pockets, the less retail spending that will happen. If there's an area that needs an economic boost right now, it's the U.K. Also, you are taking the incentives away from very talented individuals that are key to these banks and their profits. At times, a hand full of talented individuals can be responsible for a sizable amount of the bank's profits. Banks only hand out "extra large" bonuses when you've had a huge impact upon their bottom line by bringing them FAR MORE money than they paid you in a bonus.

Sean Hyman
DailyFX Forum Moderator